Last week of the hols :(

So next week Big man will be back to school. Hubbahubby will be back at work properly and we will be beginning a new exciting adventure-home educating. So this is our last full week to squeeze in some more family fun!

So far we have had a fun day of bowling, pizza and mini golf. This was with PSNA, the autism support group we are a part of so there were a lot of us there, about 50! It started off quite stressful as Squashy had a bit of a freak out. He had been really looking forward to it, but he decided he didnt like the shoes and it got him pretty upset and asd I was 'in charge' trrying to check ewveryone had arrived and was in the right place and so on it was a bit difficult. I've learned not to take on a big challenge when i have the boys on my own, and also that even when Squashy seems like he will be ok, just because he's enjoyed it before or said he looks forward to it, not to take that for granted as he still may struggle. After a while he found a friend who he plays Minecraft with and that helkped settle him and he managed to enjoy the rest of the day.  It was a crazy but fun day, the boys enjoyed having friends to play with and it was nice to chat with other parents. 

We had a lovely day at a local park with a family we met through PSNA. 

There is an awesome playground, a sand play area and a lovely sensory garden. 

Squashy has really it it off with one of the boys so after a fun afternoon he came back to ours to play minecraft. This really is a big thing for me as Squashy (because of his AS isn't too sociable) never has people to play, doesn't really have many friends and although they spent most of the time on their laptops they were having fun. It made me really happy :)

We were lucky enough to get places on a trip to Twycross Zoo with Cerebra, a charity who help families with brain related disabilities and conditions.
                                      
Hubbahubby managed to wangle half the day off so came and joined us in the afternoon.
                                                    
There was a lot to look at and explore besides the animals

 

 The penguins were cute, and they came up really close, brave little fellas! Oscar was expecting themto dance like Mumble in Happy Feet.

A couple of cheeky monkey's seem to have escaped.....

It was a good day, they have so many different animals, Squashy and Momo especially love animals so they really enjoyed it. Some of our favourites were the elephants

                              

                                             

                                          

                                 

                                 

This sad looking monkey 

                                                                                                                 

And Momo decided that his new favourite animal was flamingo's. He asked why they are pink and Squashy told him it's because of what they eat, so Momo thinks flamingos must eat candy floss! (it's actually shrimp!) 

There were some lovely old giant Aldabra tortoises. Hubbahubby loves tortoises and has always wanted one so he nejoyed watching them, 

and Squahsy took quite a shine to them, they were very tame and took food from his hand!

          

They are so funny to watch, they have a real character, their little faces and expressions were quite comical!

We also had fun with a dinosaur exhibition they have their, Big Man had wanted to be a paleontologist since he was little so always loves all things dinosaur and fossil related. 

And Momo narrowly escaped being eaten!

A really fun day with big thanks to Cerebra.

We then got another day at the seaside! This is the beautiful Bracelet Bay, Mumbles in Wales.

Our last sea side trip of the summer and Oh how much I love the sea, look how happy I am to be there, even in the rain!
                                     
 I had hoped for a really nice, laid back, fun filled day. It didn't quite go to plan thanks in part to the weather and also to a dodgy car tyre. We spent a big chunk of the day in a car garage in Swansea (where th Go COmpare man gets his dolls, according to the boys!)  but the boys weren't put off, there was a free hot chocolate machine! But we eventually made it to the beautiful Mumbles in Wales. Stunning views, even through the drizzle.
                                 
                      
We tried to stop here for a picnic, but it was just too windy!

                                  
Then we found a sweet little playground and lido, right on the beach and set up camp there for a few hours of rainy fun.
                                 
 The boys had a really great time doing a bit of metal-detecting looking for treasure,


Momo made a little friend (dont you just love how kids can do that?!) and had a great time with him and his little dog

                                      
 and lots of larking about in the lido. I was so happy slurping my cuppa watching them run about like loonies!
                                                                                   
Even Big Man, reminding me that you are never to big to let go and have fun. Makes me so happy to watch them playing :D

 I really hope we get chance to come here again when the weather is better.

 After a quiet weekend, we had one last day out, with a bunch of friends to the Chatsworth Estate (not the Shameless one as hubby thought!).
                    
                                       

We had a fun afternoon picnic'ing, 
                                       
exploring the farm
                                                         
meeting animals


Holding the guinea pigs

 playing in the adventure playground


and all round adventuring!


It was a lovely chilled out last day that we all enjoyed. 
                                            

We stopped off at their famous farm shop on the way home. There was some delicious food for sale, 
                                                                         
a competition to win a huuuuge jar of jam (which Squashy spent ages mathematically working out!) and we treated ourselves to  a couple of scummy treats! 

                                     

I am really sad to say goodbye to the summer hols. They have been brilliant, every year they get better. this year has been a little tough at times, with a few of Sqaushy's difficulties and the big 'uns (sometimes seemingly endless) squabbling, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I am one lucky mama to have all these amazing guys in my life and I am so happy when we are all at home together :)